Hell and Paradise
by acochran5
Summary: Zeref gets his happily ever after, in the form of a different world called Earth, a land without magic. In his ideal life he gets to live with his aspiring author brother, Natsu, and the love of his life, Mavis. All he had to do to get this happy life was send his other self back to his hellish life on Earthland. But why should he care? Zeref's living a life of paradise. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail**

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"In the history of the world there was the land of Fiore. This land was a land filled with magic. It was apart of everyday life; used for cooking, and cleaning, and changing the color of clothing. For a select few, however, magic was an art. An art that these few dedicated their lives to practicing. These few were called wizards. These wizards would band together and create a friendly environment for wizards alike to get jobs, and socialize. These places were called guilds. All guilds were approved by the magic council. And if they weren't, they were a dark guild. Many dark guilds are dedicated to an evil man, the evilest wizard in the world. Really though, he was simply a man who had made a wrong decision and…"

Zeref squinted at the page. "What is this crap? Am I supposed to feel sorry for him? Seriously, is this guy an evil wizard or a charity case?"

"Zeref nii-chan, don't say stuff like that!" Natsu cried and pouted. "You're not supposed to say, 'crap', and the story's only giving him a reason for doing what he's doing!"

"I thought he was evil? What more of a motivation does he need?"

"Yeah, but he's not truly evil!" Natsu insisted. "Now keep reading, I worked real hard on this!"

"Fine." He said shortly and then continued to quietly mumble the story to himself. "This story follows a guild full of immensely powerful wizards, with much diversity. This guild was called Fairytail."

Finally, he reached the end of the chapter and took off his glasses. "Seriously? The evil wizard is based off me? I'm the charity case?"

"He's not a charity case! Alios just has trouble with people and he's misunderstood! Just like you!"

"Just like me?" Zeref asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not a piece of crap like Alios, Natsu."

"Don't say stuff like that about my characters! Now look," Natsu huffed and snatched the paper. "I showed this to you 'cause you're my best bet at getting feedback! Nobody else thinks I could ever be a writer!"

"Well… you've got a long way to go."

"Duh! This is only my first manuscript!"

"Yeah, well, you've got a good story line but your characters and writing technique need a lot of work."

"Alright, I'll work on it if it'll make you happy!" Natsu was getting frustrated and Zeref figured he'd need to give him examples.

"Look, Natsu." He said, grabbing the ten-year-old by his hand and setting him down on the bed. "One of the examples I have is this." He held the paper up. "Basically, you're laying everything out for your reader in the very beginning but it would be much more interesting if revealed through dialogue, a character's thoughts, or their circumstances. First, introduce your main character, then slowly give the reader more information as they continue reading. I know you want to get right into it, but setting things up should be done with care, so remember everything I just told you."

Natsu slowly nodded. "Alright." He said. "Fine, I'll try." And Natsu ran out of his room, presumably to go back to his computer and continue typing. Why Natsu had gotten so interested in story-telling, Zeref didn't know, but it was better than playing video games, in his opinion.

Natsu's story was indeed very interesting but the thing he found most interesting was that Natsu had created this story in the first place. In this world, the world of Fairytail was just a story created by a child.

It was almost ideal. Here he was, able to live his life with Natsu, able to be the thing he'd always wanted to be. A good brother. The only thing the world filled with magic had done for him, was beat him when he was down, and thrown every horrible thing his way, expecting him to give up, fall, fail, break. But he had not.

On the contrary. He had taken what they gave him and turned it into one of the best gifts he'd ever recieved. And with this gift he had managed to unlock the secrets of the dead, the secrets of time travel, the secrets of the living, and the secrets of immortality. Zeref smirked as he thought this. The him that was supposed to be here, was in that other reality, with a war on his hands, probably completely overwhelmed.

No, he would never wish the fate of the curse upon anyone. However, the way he figured, his other self had not broken the laws of life and death and was not cursed in that world because despite them being the same person they were, at core, fundamentally different. Meanwhile, he hadn't the curse here either, considering there was no supernatural workings in this world. This world was free of Gods, free of curses, free of magic, and he used it to his advantage.

So, that was his theory. If it wasn't true, it wasn't his problem anymore. Or… well, it was his problem but not HIS problem… that just made it even more confusing in his head.

The Natsu in this world was his Natsu, not altered by the Etherious in any way. It made him tremble in relief and happiness. When he'd first arrived in this world, he realized immediately his choice of clothes were not appropriate for the time era. And he had been panicked for a little while, until he settled into his life. His job, his family, his love with Mavis.

Yes, this was his ideal world, the only thing that would make it better would be if his parents were still alive. But he supposed his life couldn't be completely perfect, and he'd learned a while ago to take what he was given and turn it into much more than what he had before.

The perfect life. The life without magic, the life he'd dreamed of for so long; the world he'd dreamed of for so long. The only slight problem was that he had to keep his sad self a secret. Apparently in this world he was much happier, which made sense, since he had everything here.

Still, sometimes he wanted to cry with happiness. And in the middle of the night he was who he'd been in Earthland yet somehow… different at the same time. He felt the same even though he had everything he could've asked for. He felt the same depression in the late hours of night, he still woke up screaming from the nightmares of blood, and black fog, and dragons.

Nightmares that wouldn't make any sense to anyone else, so Zeref kept the fears to himself like he always did and pretended everything was alright.

This was what he'd always wanted, what he'd always dreamed of.

Natsu came running in then, claiming he wanted to go to the park. Zeref quickly dried his tears and smiled desolately. "Alright." Zeref said, holding out his hand, which Natsu grabbed and dragged.

"Come on, come on!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." Zeref laughed slightly as he was dragged out of the house, in the heat of summer, the sun shining on his face.

Some might've found what he did to his other self horribly inhuman and horribly wrong but… this was the life Zeref had felt he deserved. This was the life he'd wanted. Free, of heartache, of the curse, of his demons.

He'd never done anything to deserve the curse. He'd never done anything to be rejected by the very universe itself. He'd only lost everything and tried to take a piece of it back.

But in this reality. On Earth, he got to live his life like everyone else. This was where he belonged, this was what he wanted, this was what he got, this was paradise.

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**A/N This is an apology update. I don't have a new chapter this week for The Devil and Me or Operation: Catch a Dragneel. I'm so sorry for that but it's been so hectic I wanted to update something nice and short and easy, with a tiny story line. I think this will be a three-shot so I will update the next two chapters soon. I have an exact story line for this already drawn so the next chapter should be in two or three days, and then another one after. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I'm a little nervous since I feel this could be better, but I'm not sure how since I already rewrote it. Again, I'm sorry for the lack of update on the other two stories (Even I feel bad I'm missing a week because I always have an update for ongoing stories every week. Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope nothing was confusing and I portrayed what happened well. If you have a question feel free to review or pm me. And feedback is very motivational so I would love some reviews/favs/follows. Thanks for reading, I'm pretty sure I'll have an update by next week! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Zeref didn't understand what was going on. It was like one moment he was asleep, and when he woke up, he was surrounded by smoke and loud noises, screams and shouts. He figured he must be dreaming.

But then, a boy came at him. He monologued, said things Zeref didn't understand. About how he couldn't get away with hurting people and such. Zeref didn't understand, he didn't remember hurting anybody. He just wanted to go home.

He was worried when he pinched himself and nothing happened. He was still in the same strange setting, with the same strange boy bearing an odd resemblance to his brother, yet… older. "I'm afraid I don't understand what's going on." Zeref said timidly, unsure if he was saying the wrong thing or not.

"What do you mean you don't understand? It's too late to play clueless!" he shouted.

"Hey! Don't shout at me!" Zeref yelled. "I'm sorry if you're feeling frustrated, but that's not my fault!"

The pink haired boy gave a tiny laugh. "Just what's your angle?" he snarled. The boy curled his hands into a fists and Zeref found himself raising his arms in defense.

"What do you want us to do, sire?" another voice asked in the background. Zeref turned, it was a man, his hair tied over his shoulder. He didn't understand. Who was he talking to? And why did it seem like the man was addressing him?

"I-I don't know." Zeref said, scared with what was happening. It looked like… almost like he was on a warfront. But that was impossible. And why were there flying blue cats? He didn't understand that either.

"J-just tell me how I can get back to Tokyo and I'll leave." Zeref said.

"Tokyo? Never heard of it." The pink-haired boy said. Every idiot on the face of the universe had heard of Tokyo. Just what kind of rock was this boy living under?

"Well… I don't know what's going on here, but it's obvious I don't belong so I'm just gonna go…"

"What? We're not going to let you go!"

"But how come!" Zeref cried. "I haven't done anything wrong, and whatever I did to upset you, I'm sorry, okay? So just show me the way back to Tokyo and we never have to meet again!"

"Natsu, this guy's giving off a weird vibe. I mean, I know Zeref's weird, but this guy seems… different somehow." The blue flying cat relayed.

"Natsu?" Zeref asked, frowning. "But that can't be… you're too old to be Natsu."

"Gee, thanks." Natsu rolled his eyes.

"No… not like that. I mean my brother's only ten years old. You have to be at least seventeen. You can't possibly be Natsu! I don't understand what's going on!" Zeref shouted and crouched, his head in his hands. He tried breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't working.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"No, I am NOT alright!" Zeref shouted. Zeref so very desperately wanted this to be a dream. He pinched and smacked his arms and cursed when it didn't work. "What is happening!" he just wanted to go home and be with his brother, and live his normal life. He didn't know how this was possible or what this world was.

He didn't want to cry either, but tears of frustration glazed his eyes. "What's happening, where am I?" he demanded.

"You're in Magnolia. You started this war."

"NO! I didn't!" he screamed.

"Yeah, you did!" Natsu shouted right back.

"How do I fix it, I don't belong here. I want to go home, and why does my head hurt?" Black exploded around his feet, making it's way towards everybody. "Happy, fly us up!" Natsu shouted.

"Aye, sir!" they flew up into the air, whereas Zeref's soldiers scrambled backwards, trying to escape the black. Most made it, but some were not so lucky.

"What's happening? Why are they dying?" Zeref clutched his shirt. What had just happened? Had he killed them? Had they died because of the black fog surrounding his feet? How did he make it stop?

"You're right Happy." Natsu muttered from up in the air. "Something's different about him." Zeref screamed from down below, and the deep breaths he was taking to try and calm himself down weren't working anymore.

"Please, someone, tell me what's going on!" he cried. The black fog would not disappear no matter how much Zeref willed it to. He was scared of this hurting more people, he was scared of it taking their lives. He wanted it to stop, he didn't know how to make it stop. He didn't know… his head hurt.

"Zeref, you've gotta calm down." Natsu said.

"How can I calm down when this black fog coming from me is KILLING people!"

"You can't care about them." Natsu said, remembering how Mavis explained the curse. "You can't let their deaths affect you."

"Now you're just being crazy! How can I not care, they're people and I'm KILLING them!" Zeref's hands trembled and no matter how he tried, he could not calm down.

Zeref's head was pounding, his hands were sweating, and he had never felt so overwhelmed in his entire life. Words could not do what he was feeling justice, as his heart hammered in his chest. His breathing came in short, quick gasps.

"Happy, drop me." Natsu ordered.

"But—!"

"You have to. Drop me." Happy frowned at his friend but his paws slowly uncurled and he allowed his friend to drop into the black mist below.

When he landed, he could see his scarf start absorbing the black fog. He slowly went over to Zeref and crouched beside him. "How are you alive?" Zeref asked. Did the black fog not kill the people after all? It was a fleeting hope, he knew, but that didn't stop him.

"It's my scarf. It'll absorb your death magic for a time."

"Death magic?" Zeref asked.

"You're not really the Zeref we know, are you?"

"I don't think so. I certainly don't know any of you." Zeref whispered.

"Yeah, well listen, you have to calm down, alright? Take deep breaths." Zeref obeyed, unsure if this would help him or not. "Now, stop thinking about everyone's lives. Stop thinking about them, think about something else. Anything else. Stop caring so much."

Zeref didn't know how any sane person could just stop caring about someone's life but he took a deep breath and tried to steer his thoughts away. It was nearly impossible at first, but the more he tried, the calmer he felt, and the less emotion he felt toward them. The black fog started reigning itself in to his will. By the time he was done he'd stopped feeling grief for those he had killed, and instead a sort of cold resignation had grown within him. "Good." Natsu said. "Now, we have to find a way to get you back to where you belong. I can take you to the First. I'm sure she'll be able to help you. And whatever you're thinking about. Keep thinking about it. Don't let your thoughts stray."

Zeref nodded, unsure if this man was truly his enemy or not. Zeref followed Natsu to wherever he was going, watching as they passed crumbled buildings, with explosions far off in the distance, the sound of swords clanging in his ears, and the whistle of arrows, the fires of cannons. The sounds of destruction.

When they arrived back at a building with the broken sign of 'Fairy Tail' on the front of the building. He followed Natsu inside. "Hey, everyone, I'm back!" Natsu called, walking in. Zeref slowly followed. He for some reason, had the feeling he wouldn't quite be welcomed here.

Heads turned to look at them and instantly, the looks of hatred flashed on everyone's face. Zeref didn't know what to do, so he sort of shuffled behind Natsu so he didn't have to see their obvious contempt for him. "Hey guys, chill out." Natsu said. "Zeref did something, I don't know what, but he did something."

"Yeah, he started this war!" Gray shouted.

"Well, yeah, but he did something else. This isn't Zeref. Or… it isn't the Zeref we know. This guy doesn't know what's going on."

"A trick." Someone scoffed. "He's tricking us!"

"Zeref doesn't trick people." Mavis said, frowning. "It's not in his nature." She walked closer to him until she was standing right in front of him. Zeref's eyebrows furrowed. He felt something, he didn't know what, but he felt like something was right in front of him even though there was nothing to visibly see.

"Is… is there someone here?" Zeref asked. He didn't believe in ghosts, but this world was different and filled with things that obviously weren't real in everyday life so who was he to say there wasn't ghosts?

"He can still feel me, he has the curse, but he has no recollection of these events. I'm not sure what this means… but I hope it is not what I think."

"What do you think?" Natsu asked. Zeref didn't remember anyone saying anything.

"I think that Zeref, the Zeref of this world, somehow found a way to travel to a different world. By doing this he sent the him in that world to this world…" Mavis' frown deepened. "In other words, there is a multi-verse… and Zeref has somehow found a way to access it."

"How do we turn it back? I'm not going to let an innocent guy be cursed just because that piece of crap wants it."

"I doubt Zeref WANTS his other self to be cursed. I think he thought that perhaps since they weren't exactly the same person, and this him didn't commit such a crime, that he wouldn't end up cursed. This wasn't the case however, since this world needs balance. In other words, any Zeref in this world shall be cursed, and any Zeref in his world," she pointed to the clueless man looking around with a frown on his face, "will not be cursed."

"I don't follow…"

"You don't have to follow. What needs to happen is we need to help this Zeref to get back home, and the only way to do that is to pull the other Zeref back into this dimension."

"That's too many Zeref's." Gray muttered.

"How?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not sure. I imagine whatever research Zeref did on the multi-verse will be well hidden somewhere. It's doubtful we'll find it."

Mavis bit her lip. "Back in the day I did do some experimenting with the multi-verse. I could open a very small portal by myself, but it was completely draining and the hole was no bigger than the size of an ant. I never could've done something with the specific intention to switch myself with my other self."

"So are you saying Zeref had help?" Erza asked.

"But all of Zeref's soldiers on the battle field seemed clueless to the switch." Natsu jumped in.

"No, it's possible Zeref did it by himself. He has always had much more magical ability than me, considering the fact he can do multiple types of magic whereas I was only ever able to achieve one."

"What about Fairy Law?"

"Fairy Law isn't so much a 'magic' as it is a 'spell'." Mavis said. "It's a little different since it isn't categorized like Fire Magic or Ice Magic or something similar."

"Well, if Zeref managed it, then what are we going to do?"

"I know the spell he used, but I'm not sure how much magic power we'll need to perform it. I imagine a lot, considering we are opening a portal to a world with no magic."

"Who are you guys talking to!" Zeref demanded, crossing his arms. They all glanced at him, almost forgetting he was even there.

"It's too hard to explain. We're almost done. Just be patient. We're going to get you home." Natsu explained. Zeref stared at him and nodded.

"Alright, good. I want to get out of this hell hole as soon as possible."

"Gee, thanks." Natsu muttered, not fond of his city being called a 'hell hole'.

"But…" Zeref said quietly.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked.

"This feeling I have, if I start to waver to feeling gratitude toward any of you, if I remove myself from the thought in my head at this moment, I can feel my head start to hurt and I know the black fog is coming."

"It's called the curse of contradiction." Natsu said.

"The what?"

"To put it simply, you're immortal. And the more you care about living things, the quicker you will kill them. If you don't care about anybody or anything, then you will not steal anyone's life." Natsu explained quickly.

"So that's why you told me not to care about anyone's lives…"

"Yeah…"

"What I'm trying to say, is that when you pull the other me back here—."

"How did you figure out—."

"It's not to hard to figure out. I wake up in a strange land, cursed, you mistake me for someone else, and on top of all that you said someone 'switched' which can only mean me, and probably another me since you all mistake me for him. It's pretty much a given I've been sent to another world and another me has been sent back to my world."

"Oh…"  
"As I was saying, when you pull the other me back here, try to break this curse as hard as you can. I feel like I'm going insane, and I've lived with it for an hour. Please help him… or me or…" Zeref shook his head. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do…" Natsu said softly.

"Alright everybody, we're going to need everyone to pull this off." Mavis said. "I know the spell but I will need everyone's magic power. Now, hold hands and stand in a circle. Makarov, I need a book in the Fairytail library. It's has the cover of, 'How to be a great mage'."

"Alright…" Makarov didn't question it and went to get the book. They all waited around for him to return. Once he did he set it on the table and Mavis told him to flip to page 43. Makarov did so. "Levy, Freed, I need you to draw the magic runes in this book. It will help immensely."

"Alright." They said.

"While they're doing that. Natsu, tell Zeref to think about something he really wants to go home for." Natsu nodded and turned to Zeref.

"Hey," Zeref looked at him. "Mavis told me to tell you to think of something you want to go home for."

"Mavis?" Zeref asked. "Mavis… Vermillion?"

"Yes." Natsu said. Zeref stared at him incredulously. "Really? Mavis is here in this world too? And you're… you're Natsu Dragneel, aren't you?"

"Uh… yeah." Zeref looked around the room.

"Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfillia, Mirajane Strauss… I know all of you…"

"You do?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, Natsu. You are my little brother and Gray, Lucy, and Erza are your best friends in the entire world. You have a crush on Lucy. Mirajane was your Kindergarten teacher, and Makarov is the principle of your school… I've known all of you for a very long time. And Mavis… Mavis is my fiancé. We're due to be married in March."

They all stared at him, wondering how life there could be so different yet… the same in a way. "We're… friends?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I suppose so." Zeref said. "You were all the cutest little kids. Why? Is that truly so hard to believe?"

"Well… yeah." Natsu said. "I mean, things don't quite work out like that here."

"Huh? Then how do things work out?"

"Well… I guess you and Mavis were in love."

"Were?"

"You… you killed her." Natsu said, watching as Zeref's face turned horrified and scared.

"I did what?" he whispered.

"And of course… I'm not even supposed to be here. I died when we were very young, and the only reason I'm here is because you brought me back to life. That's how you got cursed. In this world, you're the evilest wizard to have ever lived. You've killed millions of people, you've created demons and inventions that have destroyed so many lives. You're invention was the reason Erza was enslaved, one of your demons destroyed Gray's village. Hell, it sounds to me like you had a part in killing Lucy's mom too!"

"I would never do all that on purpose! Or…" Zeref put a hand to his head. "Maybe I would. With something like this. I don't know. But, I know I would go insane and… I think your Zeref lives a very lonely existence."

"He destroyed our lives."

"He saved you!"

Natsu stared at him for a while. "You're just like him, aren't you?" Natsu asked, frowning.

"Yes, I am. I am him in some ways. And… I think I probably would've done the same things…" Zeref said. "I love you Natsu, more than anything. I would die for you."

"But I never asked you to die for me!" Natsu shouted.

"Well you don't have much of a choice now do you!" Zeref cried. "I don't care you never asked me to die for you, that is NOT how love works! You don't get to decide, you don't get a choice!" Zeref took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, I know it's selfish. I'm perfectly aware of just how selfish and stupid it is." Zeref said. "But if you died, Natsu, and there was a way to bring you back I would take it, no matter what."

"You don't understand. Zeref's so twisted because he brought me back! Now all he wants is for me to kill him! Even though he knows I'll die too."

Zeref sighed. "Listen, Natsu…" his fingers trembled. "I can barely stand this feeling. I would never be able to live with it, I'm too weak for that. Zeref… I love you, I always will. He loves you, Natsu, he's always loved you, why do you think he did all of this? It was for you. And somewhere along the way, it might've turned into a desire for himself. But he doesn't want to die Natsu. If there was another way, I know he'd take it, because I would take it. But I also know, that he doesn't see another way because neither do I. He still loves you, Natsu. But he's also human. And I for one, am not going to sit around and wait for utter insanity to come as I murder for fun. Do you understand?"

Natsu opened his mouth. "No… you don't understand. You can't, can you? No one but me could understand my motivations…" Zeref sighed and looked at Natsu. "I'm glad I still have you… I'm glad you still love me in my world. I don't know what I'd do if this was my life. But I'd be pretty sad."

"The portal's almost ready." Mavis said. "Tell him to stand in the middle of the circle."

"The First wants you to stand in the middle of the circle." Natsu led Zeref to the circle. Zeref allowed himself to be led. Then, Natsu took the hands of his friends. Magic power surged around them. Zeref sighed, glad to be leaving this place, but feeling sad for himself, or… the other Zeref.

"Goodbye." Zeref said, smiling slightly. "I'll miss you guys!" but really, he was thinking, 'Thank God I'm going home'. This place for him was horrible, it made his hands shake and his head hurt. Here Mavis was dead, and Natsu his enemy… or in other words, this place was his very definition of hell.

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**A/N Only one more chapter (Yay) I know it was only three but I still feel very happy and accomplished by finishing it. I hope you guys stick around for the finale where the Zeref's are finally back home in their dimensions. I feel like I could've done more with this, and maybe someday I'll expand it into five or six chapters or something, but for now, it's going to stick with three. I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading. Reviews/follows/favs are all appreciated. I'll see you soon, bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu walked back into the room with another paper in his hands. "I revised the first draft, nii-chan." He said. "Can you look it over now?"

"Of course, Natsu. Just give it here." Natsu handed the paper to his brother and Zeref started reading over it. It was several weeks since Natsu had handed him the last revised version so Zeref took that to mean he was working very hard on this story. Truly, he was very proud of his little brother.

After a few minutes of reading Zeref started to feel funny for some reason. He couldn't think of any reason why. Did he eat something? His body wasn't exactly used to eating food, but he'd been here for a month. He thought his body would've adjusted to the intake of food by now. Then, the feeling started spreading. Was he sick. Zeref clenched the paper a little tighter.

"Natsu, I'm going to take a break, I don't feel so good."

"Are you sick?"

"I guess so." It had been a very long time since Zeref had last been sick. The last time he'd fallen ill he'd been about five years old. He supposed that even though this new life of his was wonderful, he was still susceptible to illness now. It was a pain, but one Zeref was more than willing to take.

"You should lay down nii-chan." Natsu said worriedly. Zeref felt a sharp pain in his head that felt oddly like the headache he would get when the curse was about to activate. Zeref closed his eyes, not able to deal with the light in the room.

* * *

When he opened his eyes he was on a bed still. Zeref slowly sat up, his head pounding faintly but Zeref ignored that. "Natsu?" he asked, looking around, only to realize this wasn't his room or rather… well, his room. "Where am I? Natsu?" Zeref looked around, worry starting to creep up inside his conscience. The pounding got worse then, almost to the point it was unbearable, even for Zeref.

He tried to get up and immediately his legs gave out as the pain intensified. "Natsu!" he screamed, clutching his head. He hoped this was all a nightmare, but when Natsu burst through the door he knew it wasn't. Or rather, it wasn't Natsu that confirmed his fears, it was how he looked and what he was wearing that made Zeref realize with horror that he was back. He was back with his curse, and it wasn't fair.

Why did this keep happening to him? He didn't understand; why did he deserve to suffer? He curled his toes and his fingers clutched his hair like a lifeline. If he was back that meant he still had the curse. It meant he couldn't care about anything.

But Zeref couldn't control it.

Had he really become so weak in only a month? Was it really so easy for him to love so unconditionally even though he'd only been in that world for a month? Zeref didn't understand why he had to care, but he did. And he knew that Natsu would get hurt, Natsu would die. This made him even more worried, which made the curse lash out stronger.

Natsu squinted through the circle of pitch black energy to it's center where Zeref lay on his side, muttering, "Don't feel, don't love, don't care, don't want, don't need, just be." His eyes were scrunched shut and he screamed once, just once, before Natsu reached him.

"You're going to die." Zeref told him, glancing up. "Foolish boy." He muttered.

"I'm not foolish and I'm not going to die."

"Help me." Zeref whispered, hoping. He was hoping, Zeref hadn't hoped in over a hundred years. What was this? What was wrong with him!

"Focus on something else." Natsu said.

"I know what I have to do!" Zeref snapped. "And it's wonderful in theory but how can I simply redirect my attention when I know I'm about to kill a lot of people if I don't! Essentially, I can't focus on something else just to stop myself from hurting them because that means I care!"

It hurt to care, it hurt so much. "Well then don't do it for them." Natsu said. "Do it for you."

"Do it for me?"

"Yeah, be selfish." Zeref frowned. He'd been selfish all his life, he certainly didn't need a lesson in it but… but he didn't exactly want to selfishly think of himself and then stop. It just felt somewhat wrong. All he wanted was to stop hurting people. Was it too much to ask? Was it too much to ask for death? Was it too much to want a break. Did it make him a bad person to try and seek out his own happiness? Was it selfish, was it wrong?

_No _he concluded. It was only because the world was selfish, and cruel, and wrong. Zeref felt the curse start reining itself in as he thought this. Anger started boiling in the pit of his stomach once again. A month gone from here and he had forgotten the desperation of needing to die, just so he could be hurt, instead of hurting other people.

And then the contradiction, where he thought that people deserved to be hurt, that they needed to be hurt, because they were wrong. Most people didn't realize how hard it was to reach an indifferent state of not caring for a person yet not hating them either. Essentially it meant you must view everyone as a stranger, no perhaps even worse than that. When a stranger dies you still feel sorry for them, even if you didn't know them. And just that little, "oh, that's sad," was enough to trigger the curse.

In the end, indifference had been too much for him. So he had settled on hatred because he would rather destroy something he hated rather than something he loved, and that was the nature of his curse. To strip away the parts that made you human and forced you to decide to become a monster, just so it wouldn't hurt when you took their lives. Zeref clenched his hands into fists and looked up at Natsu, slowly gathering himself off the floor. The curse pounded in his head, in the background, always there, always waiting.

"I assume Mavis was the one to help the other me back into his world thus forcing me back here."

"Yeah, that's right. But Zeref, he made me think about things and… and I thought that instead of starting a war and killing everyone that we could maybe break your curse instead!"

Zeref didn't even want to think about such a stupidly optimistic idea. "Good luck with that, little brother, but I have tried breaking the curse for four hundred years." Zeref said.

"Yeah, so? You've still got an eternity left to find a way right, so why give up now?"

Zeref frowned and took a deep breath. "Because I know it's useless. I am forever destined to be alone and the only way to make sure that doesn't happen is to either go to a different universe or to go back in time to stop myself from ever getting the curse and… and I know that's not possible. I can't stop myself from helping you because…" Zeref's head started pounding so hard he let a small scream escape him.

"Hey, it's alright, I know." Natsu said quickly. Zeref slowly managed to reign himself back in. Tears of frustration filled his eyes. He just wanted to die. He wanted to die over and over and over again, he deserved it. He deserved it, he knew he did. "Hey, it's okay. We'll find a way. There's always a way, Zeref."

Zeref froze and blinked. _There's always a way, Zeref. _His mother and father had always told him the exact same thing. And every time he thought of giving up on his projects to create a gateway through time, to bring back the dead, he remembered those words. He couldn't remember his parents faces, or their namesyet somehow he remembered that phrase. "There's always a way…" he muttered. Of course, Natsu was right. There was always a way, Zeref should know that better than anyone else, yet he'd been thinking of simply giving up again. Had he really learned nothing in his four hundred years in this world?

"Okay." He said. "You're right." Zeref told him. "But I don't think we're even close to finding it."

"That's alright." Natsu said. "We have all the time in the world." Zeref bit his lip and nodded.

"Yeah… I was wondering what exactly did I… er, Zeref say to you?"

"Well, he made me see a side of you I'd never seen before. The side of you that didn't selfishly want to bring me back only to kill you in the end, but the side of you that… that loved me."

Zeref knew there was no such side. He _had _selfishly brought back Natsu only for his own purposes. Perhaps at first it had been because he cared, but in the end it was only because he knew Natsu would someday be the one to break his curse once and for all. Or rather, kill him. "Natsu, I don't have that side to me. I can't love you."

"Not right now you can't, not consciously anyway, but I know exactly what you mean." Zeref frowned. He didn't mean anything by it.

"It's the contradiction in you."

Was it? Was he not even aware when he was contradicting himself anymore? "I… I don't know." All he knew was that he could not love Natsu, no matter what. He couldn't be responsible for his brother's death, he wouldn't do that. He would die if he did that. Or maybe it was more accurate to say he would break.

"I know. But we're going to fix that soon enough. Right after you break your curse." Natsu stood up and dusted himself off, holding out his hand for Zeref to take.

Zeref stared blankly at the palm and then up at Natsu. "What?" he asked.

"Uh… take my hand. I'll help you up."

"Oh…" Zeref slowly raised his hand and took Natsu's and his younger brother pulled him up almost effortlessly.

"We can go break the curse together."

"If you say so." Zeref muttered. Natsu laughed in what Zeref could only describe as a maniacal way.

"Let's go crush Ankhersam!"

"What!" Zeref shouted. "You can't crush a God! Ankhersam could curse you from just because you said that!"

"So? Then we'll just go break my curse too!"

"You're… you're too optimistic."

"No I'm not. Come here." Natsu wrapped one, tanned arm around Zeref's shoulders. "We are going to kick Ankhersam's butt and do whatever it takes, alright?"

"But… why, why would you do that for me?" Zeref asked, frowning.

"Well… I guess it's because... you're my brother. And we're supposed to help out people we care about, right?"

Zeref didn't quite believe what his ears were hearing. He bit his lip, searching Natsu's eyes for any sign that he was joking. When he found those eyes were filled with rage, despite his calm words Zeref felt unsure. Finally he sighed and nodded. "Yes… yes, I suppose you're right."

"I know. And I'm going to make Ankhersam regret the day he ever messed with my brother." Natsu's grip on his shoulder tightened. Now Zeref understood. He'd half expected the anger to be directed towards him, but it was toward Ankhersam. It didn't quite make sense how Natsu could get so riled up on his behalf, but maybe that was just how overly emotional people were.

Zeref didn't much care, but whatever his other self had said to Natsu… he was grateful for it.

* * *

Zeref woke up, in his bed, with Natsu right beside him. He squinted. "Natsu?"

"Oh, nii-chan, you're up. Are you feeling better?" Zeref smiled warmly at him and nodded.

Natsu only stared at him. "Nii-chan, is that really you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the real you. You disappeared for a whole month!"

Zeref frowned. Had he been wrong? Was his other self sent somewhere besides this place? Had Natsu truly been alone all this time? Oh God, were child services being sent to take his brother away! "There was some other guy here though. He looked like you, and he had your name, but I could tell he wasn't you."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, he looked really sad. Sadder than you ever looked. That's how I knew it wasn't you. Also, he cried at night, and he read my story, even though the real you doesn't really like fantasy stories."

Zeref nodded. It was true, fantasy definitely wasn't his favorite genre. He preferred realistic fiction. But with recent events… "I don't know." Zeref said, smiling lightly. "It might've grown on me a little." He said.

But he was interested that his brother had picked up on the small changes, he hadn't known Natsu was so perceptive, it was intriguing. "So, since he looked so sad, I tried to make him as happy as I could!"

"That was good of you. Did he seem happy?"

"Yeah, after a week here he seemed really happy! Where did he go?"

"Hopefully, he went home." Zeref said, patting his brother on the head as he hopped out from under the covers. _And hopefully he's alright. _Zeref thought in his head.

"I'm sure he's fine." Natsu said. "He seemed like a really strong person."

"He did?"

"Yep, way stronger than you nii-chan!"

Zeref gave a playful scowl and crossed his arms as Natsu added, "And smarter too!"

"Alright, you little spawn of the devil come here and give me a hug." Natsu whined about it but Zeref squeezed one out of him anyway.

"I'm happy to see you're alright, nii-chan, I was worried." Natsu said.

"I bet you were. I'm sorry I was gone so long."

"It's okay. The other you was a great fill-in!"

"Shut up." Zeref muttered. "I bet he wasn't as good as me."

"No, he was nice and I tried to take really good care of him, but I love you nii-chan." Zeref thought it was rather funny that Natsu thought he was taking care of the other Zeref.

"Well what did you guys do while I was gone?"

"We went to the park and ate ice cream! He took me to school even though I didn't want to go, he read me some fantasy stories, which you never do, and he read my own work."

"What's it called?"

"Well, I decided to name it Fairy Tail!" Zeref nearly choked on his own spit and coughed a little into his arm. "Is something wrong, nii-chan?"

"Ah… no, just reminds me of something." Zeref said. Now that was something. "Who's the bad guy?"

"His name is Alios! He's modeled after the other Zeref! He's super sad because he's forced to kill everything he loves! He's a tragic villain."

"Do you plan to give him a happy ending?" Zeref asked, smilingly lightly.

Natsu frowned and thought about it for a little while. Finally he nodded rapidly, grabbing Zeref's hands, a huge smile on his face. "Hell yeah! Who makes a character go through that and then make him die and get reincarnated or something like that! I'd never do that to him! I'm gonna make him live happily ever after with his brother! Aka, me!" Zeref only smiled lightly and chuckled. Hopefully, the real ending was just like Natsu's. Zeref thought his other self deserved it after living through that hell.

And in the end, hopefully, when they lay dying, they were both happy with the lives they had led after living in both hell and paradise.

The End

* * *

**A/N Heh, I personally like Natsu's ending better. Or at least, I like his ending for Zeref better. Overall, I liked how the manga wrapped itself up, but I didn't like Zeref's "happily ever after". I mean, by the point I saw he was reincarnated I'd already cried and grieved and maybe I would've thrown the book if it wasn't from the library... and honestly I would've rather, either Zeref didn't die at all, or stayed dead. Both options I liked better than him being reincarnated. I know that reincarnation is a bit of a thing in Japan and it's not the reincarnation concept I don't like exactly, but I just... I would've rather not seen it if it had occurred. I'm not mad about Zeref's death (obviously because I think Zeref's died in like... half my fics) but I just... I didn't like it. If you all were happy with the way that turned out, that's great, but I just didn't like it, so that's my take on it. Other than that, I really hoped you liked how it ended with both Zeref's returning to their home world and leading better lives because of what they experienced. I honestly don't remember exactly how I came up with this, I think I was looking at "tragic writing prompts" and after looking at lots a sad story starts coming to life where Zeref's depressed and Mavis is dead and there was an accident with that, but as I was writing I was like, "What if..." and boom, this story came out instead as I deleted about half the chapter and started rewriting it like Zeref was his ordinary self just in this world and he jumped into a different reality! Also, super sorry, but no Operation: Catch a Dragneel chapter this week, but I have a conversation in mind now, so I'll get started on that! Hopefully by next week I'll have a chapter for you guys. This is the end of the story, I might do something more with this if you guys want, but only if I get requests asking me to expand on it. But otherwise, this is it and I will list it as COMPLETE! Thanks for reading and sticking with it, I will see you guys soon! Bye!**


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